So social security should be a 0% savings account? Even at only a 3% annual interest rate, a $200 monthly SS contribution will yield way over double the total contribution over a 50-year working life ($120,000 in, $270,712 out).
Receiving only a 50% increase in SS distributions over one's contributions, isn't an entitlement, it's an absolute *ss r*pe. If one was allowed to keep that $200/month an invest it in the S&P 500 (50-year return = 10.26% annual), they'd be sitting on $3,066,600 at retirement. Almost EVERYONE who draws SS is getting screwed by it, compared to where they'd be if they'd just kept their money.
Politicians (like the lottery) rely on people being bad at math!
Cheers,
Rex
You shouldn't expect the .gov to be an investment firm and to take care of you, Maybe you're expecting to much........
Almost EVERYONE who draws SS is getting screwed by it, compared to where they'd be if they'd just kept their money.
Absolute fact but to expect the .gov to grow your money for you is nothing short of crazy.
The problem with allowing people to individually set up a fund for themselves in retirement is that well over half of the population would not do it and without government intervention would end up living outdoors and die. That is not something our society is ready for although we are easing in that direction with some governments already endorsing euthanasia for the ill and elderly.
In particular I know of a case in which an older middle-aged state employee resigned so as to be able to withdraw her many years of contributions to the state system for the relief of her credit card debt. And then went back to work for the same agency after cleaning out the retirement account. The 1/2 of the account that the state had contributed vanished back into the general fund and now the stupid woman doesn't have time to build up a decent retirement and has never paid into SS.
This is why the government set up the SS system. In the 1930s when SS was illegally instituted there were old people actually starving and children going hungry. It may very well happen again in a complete bust. I don't see the young folks supporting their elders anymore.
In any case probably less than half the country has more than a month worth of money to tide them over if they had any money at all.
